Guest post by Mimi- from Sunday

Today we got up and we put on our clothes. Then we ate breakfast (piece of toast). Then we had a walk and we went to church. I went to junior choir. We practiced singing. I forget which songs they were. Then I went to children's church. Then we had our morning prayers. It was fun. Then we sang songs and they were... I forget! Then we had our story and we had snack. It was chips and apples. Then Cathy brought down the bells and the cross. Then I holded the bells. It was fun. Then we went upstairs and we processed down the aisle. Then we played a story. It was fun but i wasn't involved in the story. Not everyone was involved. It was if you knew how to read. Then I sat with Miranda and Matthew and we had fun with my crayons and my pages. And soon the service was over. And in the middle of the service i did the labrinth. It was fun doing the labrinth.
We had enchiladas (leftover). [ed. for dinner]

Mimi and Miranda with their choir uniforms!

wait! i forgot one part!!We had pumpkin pie!!!!.

winter?

Today
Timo got a new tooth (#7).
I picked a large number of apples from a neighbor who had a sign out saying neighbors welcome to pick.
I realize the need to reduce the amount of exasperation I seem to have these days. Mostly because I am tired of hearing that tone of voice back from my daughter.
I made Lasagna in the morning. (unheard of early dinner preparation)
We went to the Roosevelt Roundup at the kids' school and it was a super fun carnaval!
Ami won a pie in the cake walk.
I taught an ABM floor lesson class.
And yes. It snowed.

St Paddy's day

Today was fun. I don't have much time to write so this will be point form.
St Patrick's day
*Ami is disappointed that the leprechauns didn't come in the night (I'm not sure what they are supposed to do or how you know they came. . . )
*Ami makes his own version of muffins for breakfast- no formal recipe- they turn out pretty good actually!
*I go to the auction house to put some absentee bids on some items of interest- I'm getting obsessed with auctions.
*Timo starts long sounds- one breath, one long sound
*Timo also has really fine small motor skills- both hands- as he explores his world
*Ami's friend Emily comes over for a playdate
*Ami loses his tooth- he had a total snaggle tooth for 24 hours.
*Ami personally understands the Burns quote "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!" - nothing terrible but a lesson well learned...
*I organize a parishioner to help with moving an electronic organ from GoodWill to our house for Ami. I bought it last week ($24.99) and have been keeping it a secret until today. I had hoped to keep it a secret until it was installed in our house but that didn't work out. It has lots of buttons- not many seem to affect/change the tone like they say they will but it is fun and he can say that he has an organ now and he can practice on it. I will get a video of it ASAP
*Ami tells me that he wants to be a famous composer when he grows up. Like Bach
He also wants to be a famous musician and artist.
*Mimi has an unimportant day except that she has 2 accidents with her elevated (high) chair.
*We finally put Mimi's tooth under her pillow tonight (it fell out in January) as Ami put his under his pillow too.
*Ami asked if they could have allowance. I said yes and then asked him how much he was thinking of. He suggested 17 cents.
*everyone wore green so that we wouldn't get pinched by leprechauns. :)


as a side note.... Yesterday Martin picked up Mimi from school on the Xtracycle. Apparently it was a big hit and everyone wanted to know about it in the parking lot of SUVs....

skipping school

Mimi is an expert with a skipping rope now. She LOVES it! She can skip forward and backward, two legs jumping, hopping on one foot, alternating feet, kicking off her shoes while skipping and even skipping while on the trampoline. She loves to skip in the kitchen while I am cooking and we get to have a good conversation at the same time. She skips in the hall, dining room, living room, outside, upstairs, basement, church etc etc.
This week she had 2 days off school- one for pro-D day and one for the funeral of a teacher at her school who unexpectedly died last week.
I think a 3 day school week suits her just fine!

Mimi organized all of the shoes in our house yesterday. It made a very interesting installation in our front hall. I hope she is not too crushed when we have to clean it up tomorrow!

Mimi has joined the Girl Scout Troop (Daisy level) that was organized by some mothers of other girls in her class at school. They meet every other Monday or so in her Kindergarten classroom. She is super jazzed about it and we now have her uniform all organised for the acquisition of badges!!! The seed she planted on Monday has already sprouted. Can life get any better than that?


(and yes, I bought her skipping rope at Other Mothers!!)

Mysterious milestones

When we left the room, Timo would be lying on his back. Mysteriously when we returned to the room we would find him on his tummy. Mimi and I spent quite a long time trying to film him doing his new trick. He kept not doing it. Mimi had the idea to leave the room and keep the camera running to see if he would do it when we were in the kitchen. Mimi was sure that he was just shy about doing his trick. 

So here is the footage of our time stirring the spaghetti!

He hasn't figured out the next milestone yet. Reversibility!

the latest

We have a case of the sick going through our house right now and Ami is the most effected by it. High temperatures, the H-F Chest, coughing, grogginess, lots of sleeping and a fair dose of whine.

Martin had a particularly busy weekend this weekend because the Dean is away. M got to perform his first wedding yesterday which was very special for him. He thinks that he got a few eyebrows raised and some conceptions shattered when he mentioned in his homily that we lived together before we got married.
It snowed a bit this morning which makes everything brighter and cleaner.

Mimi went to see a play with some folks from church yesterday. It was really short notice and when I asked her if she would like to go (without me or Martin) she said "Yes, I am brave". That about sums her up! She has been very brave these days with a hard visit to the dentist and then getting sick and all. I just wish she would stop asking if I have a baby in my belly. I guess my poochy tummy is giving her the WRONG idea!!!!

"Mimi is so fun to look at!"

Timo is totally cute these days. He likes to blow bubbles and he just beams when Mimi is near. He is really good at going to sleep by himself during the day. He seems to have avoided the cold but who can say. All I know is that he still wanted to nurse every 2 hours in the night last night. I think I have had enough of that.

I got some items at the auction yesterday which I am very pleased about. It will mean better storage for books and kid things. Now I will need to get some storage situation for all my ABM props. I worked on a little girl from Grand Forks a couple of weeks ago and she will come again this week for three lessons. I need to find a few other kids to practice on so I can really learn ABM!

Ami was presented with an award for citizenship at his school (Citizen of the Month... there were about 5-8 citizens from every grade). He was very pleased with it and Martin and I and Mimi and Timo were all there to cheer him on at the assembly. He is wishing his life were different these days. Maybe things will be better when the cold/fever is gone.

see you next year

What I did on the last day of 2011.
-Julia and Travis visiting us from Vancouver
-I made breakfast (bran muffins), lunch (chicken soup) and dinner (pot-roast and pumpkin pie) all before lunch. (Julia did help in the making of the soup)
-Timo did lots of sleeping. I did a lot of leaking.
-Ami worked on the house he is making in the back yard (spending quality time with Martin)
-Mimi played with Travis a lot! (puzzles, drawing, giggling)
-Got my hair cut (what a relief! makes me feel much better) at the salon at 14th and Grand (3 min walk from our place).  It is a "non tipping salon" have you ever heard of such a thing?!?!
-Martin got his hair cut too.
-Started in on getting more boxes out of my office- put some in the attic thanks to Ami and Martin.
-Looking forward to NOT moving for a while although I am not inspired to unpack boxes lest we end up needing them packed some time soon (feel a bit burned by all the moving in the past 6 months...)
-I am officially no longer Ami's favourite parent (he announced this fact yesterday but told me today that he doesn't want the baby around anymore because he takes up too much of my time... does he like me or not, I'm getting mixed signals)
-Took Julia and Travis to Trader Joe's.
-Martin will preach at the New Year's Eve midnight mass and we will watch fireworks and drink champagne from the "chapter room" at the cathedral this evening
-Thought about how crazy 2011 was which makes me even crazier just thinking about it.
-Glad to be in a leap year next year.

Happy New Year!!!

3 kids at Christmas

Christmas Day 2011

A happy day that included opening stockings from Santa (stuffed animals = big hit!) and a walk in Manito Park. You will have to trust that Timo is in the stroller! Later in the afternoon we went sliding on the hill in Manito Park. It was perfect sliding conditions and elicited many infectious giggles.

Christmas Eve widow

I suppose it will be like this from now on. Sitting at home alone on Christmas Eve. Holding down the fort.  New understandings about my own childhood and my Mum's life. Listening to the "neighbor's" carillon belt out the (hopefully) last concert of questionable christmas music.  Have Mercy Please! Stockings are hanging by the fireplace (empty) as fussy baby has not fallen asleep (woken up by belled "Away in a manger" ironically), gifts not yet wrapped, house is a mess, dog hasn't been walked...
3 kids finally asleep (at least I hope). Time for me to write this moment down.
Pray there is no "after-midnight-mass" "music".

Best moment today - seeing Timo fall asleep in Mimi's arms at church. Oh for a camera. She was so proud.

Lists

My life is full of lists. I think about lists all the time. I carry them with me when I go out just in case I need to check them when I find myself in a store. My biggest list is not one to check in the store. It is the list of things I want to blog about and probably will never get the chance. Unfortunately that list is just in my head but here's what I can remember of it right now...

-the train trip from Edmonds with Timo and Mimi- one major poo up the back,  2 diaper changes in the smallest/train bathroom with all three of us in the room, arrival early to Spokane- waking up Mimi to get off the train
-Mimi's obsessive love of Timo and how she likes to pick him up.
-the things l like about our crazy huge house - A mother's best friend- ice and water from the water dispenser (can be acquired even while nursing), a gas fireplace, a double headed shower (one fixed and one on a "rope" allowing warm water to cover you from the front and back), a basement big enough to ride bikes in, a garage
-Ami's school, his relationship with Emily (crush #1)
-Timo at 6 weeks, bigger, stronger, able to be picked up by Mimi, SMILING! sleeping pretty well, wakeful in the evenings :(
-Generous parishioners bringing us meals and food
-day to day shopping- hooray for Trader Joe's!!!
-furniture and deals i have found to outfit our house
-the list goes on...

in the middle

Tonight Mimi and I were at odds during bath-time. I told her that the rule that she can't pick up Timo yet applies all the time in our family. She said that I had my own family and she and Timo were in a different family - "the stinky bum family". Unfortunately we were already in the bathroom so I couldn't reprimand her bathroom language...
Then she sang a little song (maybe twinkle twinkle or row row row your boat) which was so high that I think she was seriously singing a high G above high C. (super duper crazy high- only canine audible almost)
Then after bath and before she fell asleep she said "Mum, can I tell you one more thing? Me: Yes.  Mimi: I love you. and after my good sleep I am not going to be so kooky in the morning".

Weekend in the City (Vancouver!)

On Saturday the kids and I set out for the weekend in Vancouver. We had a number of "dates" set up with our friends and family and miraculously we were able to see all but one family that we had hoped to see this trip! The kids were super excited to be heading off for such an adventure especially with the possibility that there might be snow in Vancouver. (the kids are super excited by snow- they have not experienced real winter in their memories and are eager to get their hands on the white stuff!!). We caught the 11 AM ferry (the Spirit of Vancouver Island- Ami's favourite BC Ferry Vessel) and were able to connect with our friends and neighbours on Turner Street Louise and her boys Elias and Mateo. So great to have a good visit and play at their house. Then it was a fantastic feast of veggies and super-duper sausages from Oyama on Granville Island for dinner at Kate, Jeff and Liam's and then a "late" night arrival at Oma and Papa's for sleeping.
On Sunday we went to the cathedral for church in the morning, remembered just how good church can be, confused a bunch of people with Caitlin and my baby (nothing like one mum holding the other's baby! yes they are exactly the same age, no they are not twins...etc etc), had to answer lots of questions about moving to Spokane, went for a lovely lunch with Hilary and Josh on Robson street ( Two Mums 4 kids!), then cousin time, Julia and Travis visit and a delicious dinner at Caitlin and Panos'. The twin cousins got to compare notes about almost being 4 weeks old and I got to hold another squishy, cute boy! Babies are so squishy it is awesome- something you forget when you haven't had one around for a bunch of years...
Monday AM was visiting time with Oma and Papa and then a visit with Lauren to round off our visiting in the big Smoke. Then it was back to the BCFerries to catch the Spirit of Vancouver Island (1PM) [designated "possible wait" but we got ON!!] Ami made friends with an elderly woman on the ferry- lots of discussion as to which vessel sailed where. I think she was totally charmed- even the woman sitting in front of the "friend" thought he was pretty incredible. So chatty and knowledgeable and fun.
I was proud of my kids for managing the rather grueling visiting schedule and there were no melt-downs or questionable behaviour.
The highlight for the kids (especially Ami) was that the snow from Sunday night had stayed around long enough at Lauren's house for us to make snowballs!

Help!

I have got to have two of the greatest kids around. Today was the day that they had an appointment to get their "school age" booster inoculations. I didn't want to ruin their days today so I kept this info from them until after school. I picked them up and started driving to the public health clinic which was in the opposite direction from our house. Neither of them made any comment about this and so I didn't either. When I finally pulled over to the curb to park both of them "woke up" to the fact that we were nowhere that they knew. I turned off the car and I turned around to tell them what we were doing there.

I said, "Well, today is the day that you guys get your inoculations."
"What does that mean" Ami said.
I explained that it meant getting poked with a needle.
In his most golly-gee voice Ami then said "oh HELLLLLLL....p".

I don't think he meant any joke by it but it was hilarious.

I told them that we would visit the nurse and then we would go down the street to the bakery to get a treat. They seemed to have NO problem with this plan at all. I was expecting big resistance but Ami lead the way with his "oh well" attitude and it meant that it was the smoothest medical procedure ever. Ami went first and he had to have 2 pokes. After the first one he said "That was nothing!" The second one stung a bit more so that was a bit uncomfortable. Mimi was hesitant about her shot but her brother did such good behaviour modelling she couldn't really fight it too hard. Besides, Ami started picking out which sticker he thought Mimi would like even before the shot went in. He is such a kind and distracting brother!

the duo sometimes known as Amimi or Mimiel

Then we went to the bakery and got cookies. Ami chose double chocolate and Mimi chose shortbread with jam center and white chocolate drizzle.  All was well.

Things learned. . .

Ami's Hallowe'en hat/costume (Mr. BC Ferry)

Timo's Hallowe'en costume (Mr Small 'n' Cute)

Mimi's Hallowe'en costume (Ms BC Faerie)

Having two kids and a newborn teaches you all sorts of things that you may not have expected. It teaches you to go to bed earlier than you could ever imagine. It teaches you to get your "work" done first thing in the day - otherwise you will never fit it in at the end. It teaches you to type one-handed - with either hand. It teaches you that you have more than enough love to go around.

3 Weeks

Yesterday we celebrated Timo being three weeks old!!! He can do all sorts of tricks now!
Here is what he is like at 3 weeks

Timo is a champion nurser. He can nurse anywhere and in any position.
He looks around very purposefully. He mostly likes shadows and architecture (just like Ami did).
He gained 1lbs 1 oz from his birth weight as of Saturday last. (>15% of his total weight)
He likes being swaddled or being held nice and snuggly - a good way to fall asleep.
He sleeps in my bed with me at night and for the most part sleeps and feeds with not much wake-time.
He is finding out about his hands a bit and they have much more presence in his world.
He keeps showing signs of indvertantly rolling over- looking up and then arching his back and starting to get his opposite leg/foot involved... yikes
He lost his belly-button stump at exactly 3 weeks.
His eyes are gummy and he has a tiny bit of acne (all normal).

In celebration of his 3 week birthday he had his first poo all the way up his back.

Remembering

Yesterday at school Mimi and Ami had a Remembrance Day Ceremony. They have lots of questions about Remembrance Day and War and Death. I love how Canadians have Remembrance day rather than Veterans Day- it just seems more all encompassing. I love the poppies and the poetry and the remembering. I also love that both my kids were wreath-bearers (representing their respective classes) at their assembly. I hope they teach Timo everything they know.

growing up

Mimi is really growing up these days. Going to school 3 days a week has moved her into all sorts of new levels of development. She is learning to whistle, she does representative paintings of people, and she is no longer my little "ok" girl - she has her own opinions and is ready to stick to them.
Today she and Ami were playing bus and she told him that she wanted to be let off at ballet class at a location name that I can't recall. She clarified that it was in India. She is saying all sorts of hilarious and cute things these days. At dinner tonight she was using a "wath-cloth" to wipe her face and, like Ami did, she calls the first meal of the day "breakstets". She is increasingly interested in the alphabet and is using the fridge magnet letters to form words.

She has moved into a twin sized bed and it is GREAT!!! We got it from CDSP so it didn't cost us a thing. We gave our toddler bed to them in case another international family comes in the future with a child who needs it. She spends the WHOLE night in it!! This is probably the best part of the whole deal. I like sharing my bed with ONE other person! She is having "issues" with having her picture taken so here is peeking out of her new bed. I caught her!!!

Mimi doesn't like to climb the stairs, she'd rather take the cliff!

She is a great climber and very adventurous which, in turn, gives me the jimjams. These photos are from Indian Rock.

She decided to be a faerie for Hallowe'en and Auntie Babba and Gran will be happy to know that she has fully embraced her birthday presents from last year! It only took 11 months!! Here she is with Alexandra at the Washington School costume parade today.

Surprise day in SF with Mimi

Last Friday Mimi and I had a morning of adventure that wasn't planned. I decided to purchase some Himalayan singing bowls from a fellow in San Francisco who, in a strange twist, is actually a renowned ABM and Feldenkrais practitioner. I found him online when I was looking for bowls and I vaguely recognized his name and face. When I googled a bit further it all made sense since he was, until recently, Anat's assistant and he is in LOTS of the videos of her work with kids. I found bowls that fit my needs for pitches and on a whim I decided to just go and pick them up at the store in SF. We found the place very easily as we have been in that area of SF quite a few times. It is just at the end of Golden Gate Park. We spent quite a bit of time in the store checking the bowls and swapping out one of the ones I had picked out online. It was rather surreal choosing these bowls online! Ancient meets Modern technology.

After we left the store I decided we should check out the Randall Museum which is a place I had on my list of things to see and do! I wondered about waiting to visit there with Ami and Katie but thought it would be quite fun to go to see something by ourselves- a little Mum and Daughter date. Indeed it was fun although I had the feeling that Mimi really likes having Ami around - for interpretation, for giggles, for kid energy. The museum is located on one of the Twin Peaks and it overlooks the city and therefore has marvelous views. The museum specializes in exhibits about local flora and fauna. They had lots of rescued animals there which seemed pretty funny to be there - crows, a squirrel, a toad, a turtle, a king pigeon (rescued from starvation in Golden Gate park). Actually it was neat to see things up close that are usually running away from you. Mimi and I really really liked the California Quail- they looked very prosperous- and we even got to hear the male crowing. Mimi also really liked looking at the bee hive that they had with the little tube so that the bees could go out the window. I thought my Mum would be very excited to see the 3 or 4 owls that were living there. They were up on platforms in the exhibit room. An employee told us that every animal at the Museum is unreleasable. The owls were either blind or injured in some irreparable way. The barn owl was especially cool to see.  They had a nice photo display of images of a coyote seen on the Twin Peaks. Hard to imagine a creature like that in the middle of such a huge city. All of the photos were taken by a regular dog-walker on a point and shoot camera. They were remarkable quality.

One funny thing that happened was I thought I would help out by expressing my concern for the deadish looking upside-down beetle I saw in one vivarium. I couldn't quite believe my ears when the  employee said that "Oh, yeah, I'll go and stand him up again". He then told us was that this beetle only had 3 legs and was about 12 years old!!! Wowzers.

Mimi was really interested in the re-creation of a 1906 earthquake emergency house. It was about the size of our dining room and apparently people lived in them for up to 3 years. It had a little bed and a sewing machine set up in it. What more could you need?!?

After we had finished at the museum we were getting pretty peckish and I decided to continue to use the sage advice of Mighty Girl who writes the blog "Famous Among Dozens". She wrote a column which tells you how to see SF as a local. As a result we went to check out the restaurants at 16th and Valentia and got a super yummy veggie burrito and watermelon juice. We need more time to wander around the area. I'm sure we will go back there. 

We headed home in order to meet Ami at the bus. On the way home I think I saw a roadkill of a coyote on the freeway just off the Bay Bridge. Such a beautiful bushy tail. A very sad testament to the reality of the Bay Area.

Dandelion Nursery School

The torment that I went through deciding where Mimi would go to preschool ended after spending an hour and a half at Dandelion Nursery School.  It probably could have ended within about 10 minutes...
She spent a day at public preschool (and thought that it was pretty grand) and was hesitant about trying something else out. I don't blame her. I like sticking with things and not trying new things all the time too. She told me public preschool was her favourite. She didn't want to try something new. However, I told her that I would be with her for the entire time while she was seeing what Dandelion was all about.  We went for a "new kids" introduction to Dandelion for 1.5 hours and after that Mimi said. "Mumma, THAT was my favourite!"  When we were trying to leave she said " Mum, Mum, Mumma Mum, can I just spend 5 more. . . . hours in the kitchen?" She was so delighted with all the wonderful things to play with and the fun friends and the total freedom to play with anything she wanted. I kept trying to whisk her around to show her all the possibilities for fun. She was so engaged in anything she put her hands on, - marble run, blocks, creative play in the kitchen and dress-up areas, etc etc etc. We made the decision that this would be the place for the Meems.
Mimi goes three mornings a week from 9-12 and I can also extend her day by 2 hours at an additional cost if I need some extra time. We can also drop in on extra days if there are any other kids missing on Wednesdays and Fridays when we are not scheduled to be at Dandelion.

She has adapted marvelously well. Some of the other "first year" kids are very hesitant and find it difficult to leave their parents (the parents find it hard to leave sometimes too. . . ). Mimi just marches in and gets busy playing. She is making lots of friends and is finding it quite easy to manage all the new relationships. She has most recently made it "in" with the "big" girls (who were at Dandelion last year). There is one girl who has taken a big liking to Mimi mostly because her older sister has a friend named Mimi and she wanted her own Mimi too!! Her name is Juliet but everyone call her Ju-ju! Maybe Mimi wants her very own friend named Ju-ju too!!
There is a parent who is a "Music Together" teacher and when she has her participation day she does music with the kids. Apparently Mimi is very involved in it and loves it. I would expect nothing less!!

Meems on her first day at Dandelion 

 

 

Mimi said something very cute the other day. She was expressing to me that she wanted to go to Dandelion at night (which is something that really doesn't happen).  When I pressed her for details as to what that would entail she said that she wanted to "go there in the evening and have prayers for each other and then play!"I think she wants a mash-up of Dandelion and CDSP Community night! Not a bad idea!!!

Dandelion is a Parent Participation/Co-op so we have 2 hired teachers and every day there are 4 parents making the day go smoothly. The space is beautiful and large with both indoor and outdoor place space and there are about 25 kids every day. It never feels crowded or out of control. The great thing is that it is a community of like-minded parents who want to have an active involvement in their child's experience. I have been on duty for two days now and I am getting to know the kids and other parents.

I have been using our Xtracycle a lot and I have mostly been riding there in the mornings.. . . the hill back up to our house is a tad daunting.. .  more about the Xtracycle in another post. .

not really wanting her picture taken. .